By Christopher Shaban
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — With the New Hampshire field hockey playoffs fast approaching, Newport handed Stevens a 5-0 loss under the lights and are a good bet to keep their #2 Division 3 seeding. “Stevens is our biggest rival and to beat a team like that twice in the same season is just what we need to take into the playoffs,” said Tiger defender Natasha Carpenter.
Playing under the lights for the first time all season suited Newport just fine as they used their speed and quickness combined with great goal tending from Bree Robertson to grab the win on the road with a big Newport following along the sidelines.
“This was a great win, we knew they were going to be tough, so we had to bring our “A” game tonight,” said Helen Kalecinski. The Tigers struck quickly with an up-tempo start that had all-state forward Katie Sharron plant one into the cage. Newport had 11 corners on the night and when the ball found the stick of Peyton Blackinton on an early Tiger corner opportunity, she wasted no time increasing the Newport lead to 2-0 by the end of the first period with a blast that rattled the back of the cage.
The Cardinals defense clamped down and shut out the high-powered Tigers over the second period with tough play. Cameron Ferland and Sara Farro were solid tracking down Tigers players in the box while Daniella Varela and Paige Simonds had the tough task of sticking with the likes of Sharron, Maddox Lovely and Taylor Fellows flying in from the wings.
With the goal tending of Robertson and the Cardinals 1st year player Sarah Wheeler turning back some hard shots it was still anyone’s game late in the third period. Wheeler denied a break away shot from Fellows with an eye high stick save but the Tigers added to their lead off the lumber of Nevaeh Caron just before the period ended that really deflated the Cardinals. “This was a solid team effort tonight against a really good Stevens team,” said Caron, as she was sporting some new braces that were installed just a few hours earlier and added, “My mouth is really sore, but I feel great.”
Sharron would blast a worm burner from just inside the circle for Newport’s fourth goal and when Caron grabbed her second goal of the night, the Tiger celebration was on as their regular season ended with a 12-2 record as they await playoff seeding.
The Cardinals are teetering on the edge of hosting a home playoff game and a win against Conant (9-3) on Thursday would go a long way for Patty Deschaine’s Cardinals. “We have one more game left and we have seen how good some of these teams are. Newport is really good, and we just need to play our game and we will be fine.”
With the loss, Stevens stands at 7-5 and have dropped contests with top seeds Newport and Mascenic twice in the last week with some key players missing. “I think we are close, this team has heart and come playoff time, anything can happen,” said Wheeler.
Newport had a 12-3 shot advantage and had 11 corners to the Cardinals 5.
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